Medications (Life After The Army)

After a couple of follow-up calls I finally received my medications in the mail today. I was a little surprised because it is in much larger quantities. Now I don’t have to stress out about running out of meds. I mentioned previously that I’ve also been doing some alternative treatments like the chiropractor and massage therapy. I also received my green card from an alternative doctor. In addition to taking some extra supplements such as magnesium, fish oil, and turmeric I’ve also started using a cannabinoid therapy cream. My wife rubs that stuff on my neck, shoulders and upper back. Once that is on there and sits for a bit, it all starts feeling better. Surprisingly it helps my wife’s hands as well, they recover much faster from giving me a massage.

I still have good days and bad days. They seem to come in waves…I’ll have a few good days in a row when the pain is tolerable and doesn’t impact my daily life much at all. I can take some pain meds and I’m feeling better…not to say the pain is gone, I’m aware of it…but it doesn’t keep me from going about my daily activities as I normally would. Then there are the streaks of bad days where it seems like no matter how many pain meds I take the pain is very severe and it’s hard to get anything done.

The pain meds the VA has prescribed me are Vicodin (Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen) which is what they are having me try instead of Percocet, which is what the army prescribed me for my moderate to severe pain. The Vicodin seems quite a bit weaker when compared to Percocet. Instead of taking just one Percocet, I have to end up taking multiple Vicodin and the relief isn’t as good. I guess it’s better than nothing, but I may see if I can get something a bit stronger next time I go in.

I’m also taking Flexeril (Cyclobenzaprine) which is a muscle relaxer. I usually only take this on an as needed basis and at nighttime because it makes me pretty tired. This is the exact same muscle relaxer I was prescribed while in the army.

Finally the VA doctor wanted me to try out something called Gabapentin. I take this 3 times a day and it’s supposed to help relieve neuropathic pain. I’m hoping it does something, I’ll take any pain relief I can get. On the packaging it says not to take any magnesium, so I’ll quit taking that particular supplement my alternative doctor recommended.